Lies are for the Fragile

The bench was very lonely. The clouds lazily rolled by, dripping from their damp undersides. Water droplets fell from the trees onto her hair, but she didn’t mind since she was sopping wet anyways. She didn’t know why she was sitting here all alone while there were celebrations on every corner of her street. School was over, so she should be relieved to be free of the stress. But somehow, now she felt even worse now that it was all done and her support was gone.
She watched children play in puddles while their parents warned them about the dark clouds. She wished her life was like that again; so innocent and carefree. It wasn’t thought. High school was over forever, and she was terrified. While everyone else was off partying and ecstatic to be free, Sabrina kind of wished that she could do everything all over.
The sky scrapers mocked her, standing so tall and proud while she was hunched over on a park bench, trying to make sense of her life. She had gone her whole life trying to make everything so freaking perfect that she had ignored the things that people- her friends and family- were warning her about. They had told her to be careful, and that she was going to hurt herself, but she didn’t listen.
As the sky sputtered out its final grumbles, Sabrina thought of all the celebrations that she wouldn’t attend. After the way she treated everyone, she didn’t deserve any of it. Not the fun, not the friends, and especially not the tables and tables of marvelous tasting food.
She finally snapped and pulled out her phone. She had to tell someone. Bottling it all inside was not healthy, and if she kept going on like she was, if she continued her obsession for perfection, the problem was only going to get worse.
Her fingers trembled. She knew this was something she had to do. It was one of the scariest things ever; confessing. All through high school she had kept this hidden from everyone. She was sure some people may have taken a notice to the problem, but the bigger issue was that nobody had done anything about it. She was okay with that then, and disturbingly, she liked being sick. But looking back, it was the biggest mistake she’d ever made.
People cared at first. But when she’d stopped listening, they stopped caring. And that’s why her fingers trembled. She was about to find out if the one person she could trust still cared.
In minutes she was there at Sabrina’s side. Sabrina weakly smiled, but her friend saw the mask.
Sabrina shook of cold and fear. She was never good at confessions. Even as a child, she was awful at confessing to the little white lies she told. The difference here was that this was no little white lie. There was nothing small about lying through your teeth for four years straight.
“Tess,” she whispered, liquid staining her face, though she wasn’t sure if it was tears or the rain. “I have a secret. I’ve never told anyone.”
Tess waited patiently. She knew her friend was fragile. She’d known it for years. She’d tried to help at first, and contrary to belief, she’d never given up on Sabrina. However, she knew that if she pushed too hard, Sabrina would crawl further into the box she was already hiding in. She needed to wait until she was ready. And this looked like Sabrina’s time.
“I’ve never told this to anyone,” she repeated.
“I already know,” Tess said, peace and comfort overwhelming every feature, proving that she was the friend Sabrina needed now.